(The Center Square) — U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff cited rising health care premiums as the reason for their “no” votes on advancing a deal to end the federal government shutdown.
The plan still needs approval from the full Senate, the U.S. House and President Trump.
The Georgia Democrats have repeatedly said they would not vote for a resolution to reopen the government that did not include a provision to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies which expire at the end of the year.
Warnock said 1.2 million Georgians would see an increase in their premiums for next year.
“At the same time, I understand the overwhelming pain that has been inflicted on people in my state by President Trump and Republicans, from needlessly firing federal workers, including 600 CDC workers last month in Georgia, to forcing some of our most vulnerable families and children to go hungry by eliminating SNAP benefits,” Warnock said in a statement. “Choosing between making health care affordable and stopping the endless chaos and damage of this President, including starving hungry children and seniors, should never be a decision we have to make in the United States.”
As part of the deal, Republicans agreed to a vote on the expiring health care subsidies and to reverse some of the Trump administration’s mass layoffs.
Democrats have pushed for a more concrete plan to extend the subsidies, doubting that a vote would pass in the GOP-controlled Congress.
“With health care votes ahead, the question is whether Republicans in Congress will join us to prevent catastrophic increases in health insurance premiums,” Ossoff said in a statement.
Ossoff’s votes triggered social media reaction from Republicans eyeing his Senate seat in next year’s elections.
Derek Dooley, a former University of Tennessee football coach who has announced his candidacy, said on X that Ossoff’s multiple votes “prioritized Chuck Schumer and the party bosses over the hardworking people of Georgia.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, in a video posted on his X campaign page, said Ossoff wanted to “keep fundraising off your pain.”
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter said Ossoff “doesn’t care if Georgians starve, if our military goes unpaid, if you can make it home for Thanksgiving, or if you can keep your health care — he cares about one thing: pleasing his radical Left donors and his master Chuck Schumer.”
Ossoff and Warnock’s votes drew support from former Republican and current Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Geoff Duncan.
“I’ve traveled all across our state to meet with Georgians whose health care costs will double or worse because of Trump’s refusal to extend these tax credits, and I’m grateful Senators Warnock and Ossoff aren’t voting to leave those families behind,” Duncan said on X.
